Cast iron riser for mill

Discussion on all milling machines vertical & horizontal, including but not limited to Bridgeports, Hardinge, South Bend, Clausing, Van Norman, including imports.

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Don_in_Ohio
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 10:45 pm

Cast iron riser for mill

Post by Don_in_Ohio »

I'm currently in the process of plotting ways to afford a small knee mill to replace my mill/drill. Specifically, I'm interested in the Grizzly G3102, which would be within the size and weight restrictions of my basement shop location.
Once I get it down there and set up, I'll have a little spare ceiling space and I have priced cast iron riser blocks fron J&L Industrial and Enco. The price they want for a 4 inch riser is over $300 and I have to wonder just what is so great about them that justifies the cost. The thought of making one is very tempting, anyone else have any input here?

Don in Ohio
snapmit

Re: Cast iron riser for mill

Post by snapmit »

as much as 300 sounds you probably wont really make it for that. If you make it out of steel think about what a chunk of steel would cost that big it woudnt be cheap .Then you would need to be able to machine the surfaces do you have a lathe that big to swing it ? . If you had some one cast it out of iron then there comes the expense of some else time . Now if you could get the steel real cheap and it you had a machine big enough to turn the outside with i could see making it . Another thing to consider do you even need a spacer . Are you machine parts that big that you need that sort of space to the table . Plus then it makes it harder for you to change tooling . Tall mills are not all that fun . I have a Lagun and they are very tall mill and i have to stand on a bucket to change the tooling . You would probably be better spending your money on tooling for you machine . Spend time looking around everyonce in awhile you will find them used as people take them off because they get sick of the hight .
AndrewMawson
Posts: 286
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 5:46 pm
Location: Battle, East Sussex

Re: Cast iron riser for mill

Post by AndrewMawson »

Don,

I'm going through exactly this thought process over on this side of the Atlantic, looking for spacers for my J series Bridgeport. It seems hard to justify the vast price charged for what is essentially a piece of 15" diameter thick walled tube, and had wondered if a section of oil pipeline suitably cut and trimmed on a lathe would suffice. On the Bridgeport the base and cap are bolted together with a small recessed groove for the cap in the base, and these profiles would have to be reproduced, obviously with both faces absolutely parallel

In my case it is not so much to increase the daylight under the spindle, as to raise the table to a more convenient working height.
Andrew Mawson
Battle, East Sussex, UK
Al_Messer
Posts: 2664
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 7:12 pm
Location: Mid Tenn.

Re: Cast iron riser for mill

Post by Al_Messer »

Try some of your local companies that install sprinkler systems for fire protection in buildings. All of their steel pipe is about Schedule 80 in wall thicknes, and some even thicker than that. Take the foreman some coffee and doughnuts and just maybe he'll have a nice piece of scrap you can have for little or nothing.
Al Messer

"One nation, under God"
Dave_V
Posts: 72
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 7:16 pm
Location: SW Lower Michigan

Be careful

Post by Dave_V »

Andrew,

If I correctly recall, the last person to send oil rig parts to the machine shop - with very tight specifications - was executed in Belgium. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif"%20alt="[/img]

Dave
AndrewMawson
Posts: 286
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 5:46 pm
Location: Battle, East Sussex

Re: Be careful

Post by AndrewMawson »

Dave,

That bit of news must have passed me by without reaching the brain - what was the story ?

I know Sheffield Forgemasters made some very long and accurate pipes for a certain 'gent' in a sandy country [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif"%20alt="[/img]
Andrew Mawson
Battle, East Sussex, UK
Matt_Isserstedt

Maybe I'm missing something...

Post by Matt_Isserstedt »

Why can't you just raise the mill up with feet or an appropriate foundation? Heavy 4x8 box tubing or timbers?

Just checking, because I have the same problem and never considered a spacer...

I guess if you alternated every few years one could equalize wear on the column... [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif"%20alt="[/img]
GordoAbrahamson
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2003 8:03 pm
Location: Oakdale, MN

Re: Cast iron riser for mill

Post by GordoAbrahamson »

[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif"%20alt="[/img] The reason they use the spacer is to add the height to the colum to compensate the for the height of the fixture that you are using. If you are using a 4-5" high rotory and you have a work pice that is 10" high and you want to use a 12" long reamer, you won't have enough room. Putting in a spacer does not raise the table height just the spindle height. To make one is a very large task, it has to square to work right. Just some thoughts to think about.
If I had it to do all over again, I would have boughten more tools.
AndrewMawson
Posts: 286
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 5:46 pm
Location: Battle, East Sussex

Re: Maybe I'm missing something...

Post by AndrewMawson »

Matt,

Yes I could haul the entire Bridgepot up a few inches, but that would ONLY help the working height. Using a spacer gives more daylight AND a better working height [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif"%20alt="[/img]
Andrew Mawson
Battle, East Sussex, UK
Don_in_Ohio
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 10:45 pm

Re: Maybe I'm missing something...

Post by Don_in_Ohio »

Matt, The riser increases the distance between the spindle nose and the milling table. On this particular mill there is only a little more than 12 inches max clearance. If you need to drill holes in a workpiece on a rotary table(for instance) things get awfully tight real quick. 5 inches for the table, another 3-4 for a drill chuck, plus the thickness of the work, and a standard 1/2 inch drill bit is not going to be usable. Without a spacer the spindle can very nearly touch the table, who really needs to get that close(not me, at least yet!)?

Don in Ohio
artk
Posts: 42
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 8:10 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Remember Gerald Bull?

Post by artk »

He is referring to Gerald Bull of course. This had the fine hallmarks of a certain agency that originates in the Middle East. I seem to recall it was a .22 caliber projectile in the back of the head in front of his apartment door with no witnesses. However, I think the wall thickness of his pipe was probably higher than schedule 80! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif"%20alt="[/img]

Just don't go to Belgium for your riser!
-Art K
David_Brown

Re: Gerald Bulll

Post by David_Brown »

Funny you should mention that. A recent newspaper article claimed that he had been shot by the Mossad and the gent? that did it was living in South America with a piece of jewellery purloined from the diseased.
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